Man arrested for shooting alligator who broke son's neck (VIDEO)

If you’re attacked on your own property in Florida you can usually defend yourself –except from an alligator apparently.

In June, Reginald Blanton shot an alligator in his yard four times after the swamp lizard was found in the field with his horses late at night.

“He was a big alligator,” Blanton told Fox 13. “A great big, fat rascal.”

Thinking the animal dead, his son, Jack Hildreth, approached it and was viciously attacked.

Hildreth went on to spend 10 days in the hospital with a broken neck from being whipped around by the alligator as well as other injuries.

Now Blanton has been arrested after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigated the incident and held that the 74-year old man shot the beast without a license.

Further, FWC is standing by the arrest, citing it as a good bust. They argue Blanton should have left the gator for the conservation agency to deal with.

“Our officers obviously thought there was enough evidence to go ahead with a misdemeanor charge of illegal take of alligator,” FWC spokesman Rob Klepper told WFLA.

Instead, officials urge Floridians to call the FWC nuisance alligator hotline (1-866-FWC-GATOR) so they can send a licensed trapper out.

“Of course we can’t tell people not to protect their life and property but every case is going to be different and we really want to encourage people to call that hotline,” said Klepper.

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